The Gift of Jet Lag

You wake up earlier than everyone else in the house.

You fall asleep in the chair when the family sits down to catch up on recorded episodes of Survivor.

In the middle of the day, you have to retreat to your bedroom and crash. The whole rhythm of your day is thrown off.

After a pilgrimage, the phenomenon of jet lag is a gift–provided your schedule permits you to freelance your way through your days.

But it is a time of decompression. A debriefing chamber. A zone where nobody else can go. You are alone–with God. Falling asleep with Him. Waking to Him. Submitting to the weakness of your body, which becomes a submission to Him.

Jet lag becomes a prayer–a prayer of restoration.

As with every phase of the journey, this one is also a gift, if we would recognize it for the gift that it is.